


When a man loves a woman...

by fangirl2013



Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: 10 year old Edward, AU modern, Different ages- Richard's oldest, F/M, Family, Romance, teenage Richard and Anne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 06:19:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3800077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl2013/pseuds/fangirl2013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne's moody, Richard's worried and well, Edward.... he's just discovered the birds and bees!</p>
            </blockquote>





	When a man loves a woman...

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is alright! There is no angst in this. I'm not really wanting to write angst at the moment. Especially, with Richard and Anne. I've just read a book about them and I'm in full on shipping mode! :p Enjoy.

"Anne! Get down here. Cecily's coming soon!" Francis shouted up at me, loudly, annoyance written across his face. 

His words startled me and I grabbed onto thick branches as I jumped. My heart thudded in my chest as I noticed just how high up I was in the tree. Of course I hadn't expected Francis to come and shout at me and the sound of his voice put me on edge. It definitely didn't improve my sour mood. A frown came to my face and for awhile, I didn't feel like responding. After all, I could have easily broken my neck! 

From the branch I was sitting comfortably on, I could just about glance Francis. With his arms crossed, he looked very much the older brother he was. Well, technically he isn't my brother but that didn't stop me from wanting to strangle him for scaring me. I heard him clear his throat at me, obviously demanding an answer from me. Reluctantly, I answered him. The tone of my curt and full of annoyance. 

"Francis, you prat! I could have fallen out of here. I don't care about Cecily bloody York. Or her stupid son!" I shouted at him, aware of just how moody I was being. Richard had annoyed me though and I couldn't help but let some of the anger out. Even if it was on poor Francis. 

The tree shook a little and I knew Francis was climbing the tree. Terror filled me as I wondered if the tree would take his weight too and for the longest seconds of my life, I thought of Richard. Would he remember me in his old age, if I died? I hoped he would do. I saw Francis frowning as he sat down next to me, only moments later and I realised the tree had stopped shaking and I was still very much alive. 

"Now, what's wrong with you? Of course you care about Richard. You're going out with him..." Although, Francis was concerned about me, there was a sternness in his voice I didn't appreciate. I needed no reminder about who Richard was to me but that didn't stop me being annoyed at him. 

I scowled at him, softly before looking away from him. He wouldn't understand why I was annoyed and I had no desire to be laughed at. At least, not today. The soft bustle of the leaves were the only sounds filling the tree for quite a long time and the silence had grown slightly awkward. I realised I wanted to break it as I heard Francis sigh, softly next to me. 

"He's forgetting about me. He cares more about Plantagenet than me. He'll take it over soon and then where will I be? On the scrapheap and I won't even be 16!" I couldn't stop the anger coming into the words as I spoke and to my horror, I felt tears gather in my eyes. Biting hard on my lower lip, I refused to cry or break down. 

At my words, Francis laughed loudly. So loudly, I worried about him falling out of the tree! I quickly took a hold of his arm so that I stopped worrying. That didn't mean I wasn't upset he was laughing but I wasn't going to let him fall out of a tree because of it. 

"Don't you dare laugh at me." I told him, through gritted teeth. Francis saw just how serious I was and his laughing died down rapidly. His gaze searched my face as if looking for something. When he didn't see what he was looking for, he began to speak, his voice

"He's not forgetting about you, you ninny. He's sorting out your birthday party! That's why he's been so distracted." 

He looked slightly uncomfortable talking about Richard's secret but the words brought a smile to my face. They made sense and Francis, as annoying as he could be, was not someone to lie. Whenever he even attempts to tell a fib, it's blindingly obvious. As I looked to him, I realised that it if I was as bad at lying as he was, I wouldn't even bother to either. 

I nodded at him, the smile still very much on my face. Although, I still felt a little snappy, his words had helped me. I no longer felt the need to hide away from Richard or his family. Francis gave my arm a little comforting squeeze before he made his way carefully down the tree. The only thing stopping me from following him immediately after was the idea of facing Mum. I didn't need a mirror to know I looked a mess. My blue jeans were not only caked in mud, which had by now dried, but there were gaping holes at the knees. 

I winced as I thought of Mum's reaction to my appearance. With Cecily's visit, she'd want everything to be pristine and that unfortunately would include our appearances. I started giggling softly as I noticed Francis's trousers were covered in mud and in an unfortunate place. He must have sat on a muddy branch!

'Oh, poor Mum. At least she has little perfect Isabel.' I thought, still giggling. 

My thoughts were not bitter but rather the truth. At 11 years old, my sister was the perfect child. Well spoken, well behaved and beautiful. She looked like a little version of Mum with her fair hair. With my much darker hair and more of Dad's fieriness, it had always been pretty clear who I resembled. 

A fair head of hair came bounding up to the bottom of the tree announcing their arrival. From my position, I could see all of little Edward, only his hair. I couldn't help but grin. He must have spoke to Francis and knew I was up here. I didn't want him to come up to me as I didn't want him hurting himself. The thought of hurting himself wouldn't stop him, however, as his thirst for adventure had often amazed everyone. Nothing seemed to frighten him. Nothing at all. 

"Annie. Are you up here?" He shouted up to me. He didn't bother to wait for me to respond but eagerly and quickly, climbed the tree. 

In the time it took him to reach me, I let out of a weary sigh. My earlier moodiness had worn me out and I didn't feel like dealing with a vibrant, lively 10 year old. No matter how adorable he was. Edward's little face was flushed but his eyes showed me just how energetic he was feeling. They looked bright and twinkly. Despite my tiredness, I smiled at him. I couldn't help myself. He was too adorable to stay nonchalant with. 

"How did you know I was up here, little man?" I asked him, ignoring the look of displeasure that came to his face as he heard the words 'little man.' It took him a few seconds to decide how to respond to me but when he did, I felt almost stupid for asking. He made it sound as if it was completely obvious.

"You weren't in the house." He pointed out to me as he tried to get comfortable on the branch next to me. A thought hit me as I watched and him and I felt my heart drop. 

Did Richard or Cecily know where he was? If they didn't, they'd be worrying. If they did, they'd still be worrying. I'd been lucky to never fall out of this damned tree but I didn't want to take the chance with Edward. He meant to much to us all. Once again, my heart thudded in my chest. Although, this time it was doing it so loudly, Edward could have heard it. 

The sound of Richard's worried shout stopped me from dwelling on my erratic heart, however, as I immediately heard him. I peered down at the sound and I instantly felt bad. Not only did he look frantic but he looked ready to have an aneurysm. Especially, when he realised his little brother was up the tree with me. His eyes were wide and full of worry. The sight of him looking so worried made me worry too!

"Edward, get down here this minute. You could fall." Richard demanded to Edward, softly. He obviously didn't want to startle him. Why hadn't Francis done that? Instead of startling me half to death. 

Edward, at Richard's request, looked a little unhappy. I couldn't blame him really. Spending the day with adults was hardly fun and I knew Isabel would be stealing all of George's attention for Edward to play with him. Richard was worried, though, and rightly so. I gave Edward an encouraging smile and nodded for him to get down. I reminded him to be careful so as to not slip. I watched as he carefully made his way down before I finally followed him. 

My knees were aching from sitting down so long but I ignored it as my foot kept finding the right branches. I'd climbed the tree so often that I didn't worry about coming down. I could do it in my sleep. 

Upon seeing me, Richard looked worried. There was a frown on his lovely face and I knew I wanted to make him smile. He looked far too serious! It also made him look older. Far older than his seventeen years that's for sure. As soon as I caught up with him and Edward, he started talking. 

"You know, I hate you climbing that tree. You could hurt yourself too." He pointed out to me, softly, before taking my hand. 

I couldn't help but laugh at his words. Had he forgotten that he had often climbed that tree with me? That our first kiss had happened under it? Perhaps, he had. I knew I had to remind him of it before he forgot completely. 

"You used climb that tree too, Richard. In fact, you suggested it half the time. Besides, I like climbing that tree!" I told him, before kissing him on the mouth softly, softening my words a bit. He kissed back quickly, his lips moving beneath mine and it wasn't long before my hands were in his hair. His dark hair had always fascinated me and I knew I loved touching it. More to the point, so did he. 

At the touch of my fingertips in his hair, I heard him sigh. We broke apart after a few lovely moments and I quickly noticed Edward was no longer with us. He must have ran inside because we were being 'mushy.' Smiling slightly, I knew we'd have to go in soon. Cecily wanted to see me too, not just Isabel and Mum. I wouldn't get away with making out with her son all day, no matter how much I wanted to. 

"We'd better go in." Richard's nodded at my words, but his frown had disappeared. He looked much more at ease. 

Still very much holding hands, we made our way inside. I cringed as I noticed the mud on the carpet as we came into the living room and I hoped desperately that Mum wouldn't be too annoyed. Mum looked relaxed, smiling at whatever Cecily had told her and it seemed my presence hadn't been missed. We'd only been in the room a matter of seconds before Cecily turned her attention to us. 

Cecily York was a lady I had always admired. She was feisty, independent and knew exactly what she wanted from her life. She could leave someone a complete nervous wreck in only a matter of words and as soon as I had realised that as a little girl, she'd instantly won my admiration. I had also been scared of her too. 

"Anne, dear, you're looking well." She leaned forward to kiss my cheeks, softly and I found myself smiling at her. Her words held no displeasure or even disproval but I knew she'd noticed the mud and my untidy appearance. It would have been out of character for her not to.

I noticed her smile at Richard and her eyes were full of pride. As we both sat down, I tried not to get any mud on the cream seat. If I did, Mum would certainly not be very happy and I'd be the one cleaning it off. Francis caught my eye and shot me a knowing look, a half smile on his face. 

'Bloody Francis.' I thought to myself, before looking around the room.

Sitting, very happily at his mother's feet, was Edward. His cheeks were still bright red and I had to wonder whether my kiss with Richard had caused his cheeks to redden even more. After all, he didn't like witnessing things like that. A polite silence fell over the room and I felt no desire to strike up the conversation. I was happy just holding Richard's hand watching events unfold in front of me. Within minutes, that's what happened as Edward started speaking to Cecily, rather animatedly. I paid little attention to it as I picked up a drink but I ended up spluttering as I heard a certain question Edward asked.

"Mummy, why do men get boners?" He asked her, completely innocently, as if he was asking about a toy. 

Cecily's mouth dropped open wordlessly and I definitely didn't blame her. Whatever I expected Edward to ask, it was definitely not that. Surely, at his age, he shouldn't need to know that! I'd never seen Cecily so flustered as I could almost see the thought process on her face. Richard shot me a look as we waited for Cecily to answer her son. Edward waited very patiently for her talk and it seemed her hesitation puzzled him. It was clear on his little face.

There was something faintly amusing about the situation and I ended up biting the inside of my cheek in order to prevent laughing my head off. I was still biting as I heard Cecily finally speak. 

"Well... when a man loves a woman, he reacts to her in a certain way and er, that is why they happen." She told him, her voice very composed. It made me think they were discussing the weather, not sex! The fact she hadn't used the word 'boner' didn't escape me however and neither did it did escape Edward. His ears had been listening so astutely.

He frowned a little, in the following moments and I could tell by the way his brows knitted together that he was thinking hard about his mother's words. 

"How does a man know he loves a woman?"His voice as full of a confidence that amazed me. He seemed so young to me yet here he was talking about sex and love. It felt odd. I couldn't help but wonder how Cecily was feeling.

I turned my attention back to her and I watched her reaction carefully. Reluctance was all over her face and I half expected her to tell Edward that the conversation was over but to my surprise, she didn't. Instead, she merely explained love. Well, she defined what love happened to be very loosely. Perhaps, the idea of Edward falling in love with a girl was not a comforting one for her....

I was focusing so much on Cecily that I barely noticed Edward's reaction or even the start of his words but when he spoke about a girl, that caught my attention. Edward had, up to now, been reluctant to play with a girl let alone speak of one. 

"I'm in love. She's called Elizabeth. She's got yellow hair." He admitted, happily, still looking at Cecily.

Without thinking, she muttered: "It's blonde, sweetheart."  
  
The following blonde/yellow debate lasted all afternoon and it was only when Edward had tired himself out did it end!

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment? :)


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